Saturday, February 2, 2013

a short visit home


My sister Jean and I (along with her husband Jim and son Jack) visit my parents.  I haven’t seen them since Thanksgiving.  My mom looks great.  My dad, not so much.  He’s just gotten home after a month in rehab from a fall he took at the beginning of the year.  He is very tired and can barely stay awake through our two-hour visit.   My 83-year old mother greets us with her usual smile and youthful gait.  She walks about three miles, five times a week.  She could be the poster child for why exercising is important. 

My mom has prepared a big breakfast: a french-toast soufflé, bagels (with cream cheese and lox), coffee cake and fruit.  We try and keep my dad involved in our conversation, but it is difficult.  He keeps drifting off.  Apparently he hasn’t slept well the past two nights. He seems uncomfortable, physically.  He is a man who was never sick.  And though he was injured a couple of times, he never complained.  My father was a strong man, so to see him weakened by age is sad. 

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